Most Christians believe that the Gospel of the Bible is about the Person of Jesus Christ. However, the Bible records that the Gospel (meaning 'good news') of Jesus Christ is the message that He came to preach. Christ was sent by God the Father as a Prophet (Deut 18:15) and the Messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1) to proclaim the Gospel of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:14; Matt 4:23; Luke 8:1,4:43). Jesus Christ categorically states that He came from the Father with a message and it is not about Himself - John 7:16-18.
All who are called to be His disciples are commanded to hear Him - the Gospel message of Christ which is the kingdom of God (Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). One has to believe this same Gospel to be saved!
Christ's first commandment, after overcoming the temptations of Satan in the wilderness is 'repent ye, and believe the gospel' - Mark1:15. The Apostle Paul affirmed that the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jews first and also to the Greek (meaning all the 'Gentiles') - Romans 1:16.
Some Bible scholars and writers believe that the Gospel of the kingdom of God is meant only for the Jews - this is absolutely false. Those who do not believe the Gospel are not called to be Christ's true disciples and will not be in the first resurrection when He returns (1 Cor 15:23; Hebrews 11:35)!
But what exactly is the 'kingdom of God'? Countless millions are confused. It is not the church, neither is it about the Person of Jesus Christ nor the millennium age. Some believe that it is 'in the heart and in the mind' when one says the 'sinner's prayer' and place his/her trust in Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is the government of God which Christ was commissioned by God the Father to restore that which was lost to Satan (2 Cor 4:4) because of sin - first of Lucifer and his fallen angels, and then of Adam and his descendants.
The second Adam - Jesus Christ - had to overcome Satan at the wilderness to regain the right to the throne as 'King' of God's coming government on earth! But the Jews mistakenly thought that His first advent then was to restore the kingdom to Israel. They all looked and hoped in vain!
The dreams of prophet Daniel about the coming kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44) and prophet Isaiah's prophecy that 'the government shall be upon his (Jesus Christ) shoulder...the increase of his government...and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. - Isaiah 9:6-7 - bear testament to this fact. The prophet Jeremiah had also recorded a similar prophecy - Jeremaih 23:5-6. This is corroborated by what the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary, He (Jesus Christ) shall be great...and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David... and of his kingdom there shall be no end - Luke 1:32-33.
The confusion arises partly from the mistranslation of Luke 17:21- the kingdom of God is within you. A more appropriate translation should be 'in the midst of you' - as given on the margin in the NKJV. In that context, Jesus Christ was speaking to the Pharisees telling them that the kingdom of God cannot be seen with human eyes, so it is pointless looking around to find the kingdom of God.
It is a spiritual kingdom that can only be seen and enter (inherit) when one is 'born again' as an immortal spirit being upon resurrection when He returns (John 3:3, 5-6; 1 Cor 15:50). Christ was making the point that He is the Divine Representative of the coming kingdom of God. No way was Jesus Christ telling the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was within them when He strongly condemned their hypocrisy with strong words (Matt 23:16-33)!
Jesus Christ preached the Gospel wherever He went, often accompanied with healing and casting of demons - Matt 10:7; Mk 1:38. In addition, he sent out His twelve and later seventy disciples to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2; 10:1,9). The Apostle Paul preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God - Acts 19:8, 20:25, 28:31; and so did Peter (Acts 3:19-24) and Philip (Acts 8:12). In fact, Paul and Philip differentiated the Gospel of the kingdom of God from the Person of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12, 28:31).
Does that mean the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind is redunctant? By no means - Jesus Christ's role is very important as He is the way to the kingdom and He is to be preached in conjuction with the Gospel as shown in Acts 8:12 and 28:31.
Christ commanded His true disciples to 'seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness' - Matt 6:33 - and the first item on the Lord's prayer is to pray for 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' - Matt 6:10; Luke 11:2. In this time and age, God's government is ruling from His throne in heaven. God's Plan is to restore it on earth starting with the Millennial Age when Christ returns to restore His kingdom (Rev 11:15) when all human government will be forcefully evicted to make way for Christ and His resurrected saints - Rev 2:26, 3:21, 5:10; Daniel 7:13-14, 18,22,27.
Almost all the parables of Jesus Christ is about the kingdom of God. He even warned His disciples not to be deceived by preachers who will come to preach about the Person of Jesus Christ and ignoring His message - saying 'I am Christ' - Matt 24:5. Such blantant disobedient to the commandment of Christ is so serious that Paul warned of a 'double curse' on anyone who preached a different Gospel - Gal 1:8-9!
There are four element for a kingdom - land (which is planet earth - Matt 5:5), King (the Lord Jesus Christ - Zech 14:9), laws (the righteousness law and commandments of God - Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14, including those taught by Jesus Christ at the sermon on the mount - Matt chapters 5-7) and people (all human beings who survived the Great Tribulation - Zech 14:16).
It is God's divine Plan for those whom He called to enter and inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Thess 2:12; Hebrews 2:9-13. However, they need to bear fruits of the Spirit, the righteous character of Christ-likeness in this mortal life before they qualify - Gal 5:22-26. Only a small group are now called (John 6:44) and lesser still will qualify (firstfruits) - Matt 20:16, 22:14; Luke 12:32; James 1:18 - with the rest of mankind who had ever lived called towards the end of the millennial age - Isaiah 65:20. When there are firstfruits, there will be subsequent ones to follow. Those who refused to conform will not inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:5.
In fact, the Gospel was preached to the people of the Old Testament (Heb 4:2) and by almost all the Old Testament prophets (Acts 3:24). The same Gospel was also preached to Abraham (Gal 3:8) - probably by Melchizedek. Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, is the seventh preacher of righteousness (the coming kingdom) for the period between Adam and the Flood (Jude 14). Noah was the eighth preacher of the one and only Gospel - 2 Pet 2:5. So the Gospel of the kingdom was consistently preached by all true servants of the Almighty God - both in the era of the Old Testament and in the New!
The Gospel is a mystery as it involved the salvation of all mankind (starting with the church as the firstfruits), God's divine family (for those born again) and much more - according to the Plan of God as spelt out in His Holy Days (see Leviticus chapter 23). Jesus Christ told His true disciples that He spoke in parables so that only those who are called will understand its mysteries, all the rest will not! - Matt 13:11; Luke 8:10. It is a mystery of the Gospel which things the angels desire to look into - 1 Peter 1:12. If the Gospel is only about the Person of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, all these would be plain milk doctrine and the preceding verses would make no sense as there is 'no mystery'!
The true Gospel had not been preached for some nineteen centuries since the first century AD when there was a conspiracy to suppress it because the powers that be then were fearful of a higher power and authority that the people will hold allegiance to. They substituted the Gospel with the Person of Jesus Christ instead! In fact, Jesus Christ was crucified because the spiritual leaders then were afraid that their power and authority will be lost because of the Gospel that the Lord preached. Worse, they could be accused of treason and even lost their lives as they were subservient to the Roman authorities.
The Lord Jesus Christ prophesied that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come - Matt 24:14. Since we are all living in the last days, it is high time that the true Gospel be preached to fulfill of the Great Commission. Had it been preached in the preceding centuries, Christ would have returned to restore His kingdom.
The issue simply is this - do we really love God and His truth enough (2 Thess 2:10) to lay hold of His promises. Sadly, as it was in the days of the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul, so it is today when one can resonate their cry to God - 'Who hath believed our report?' - Isaiah 53:1; Romans 10:16. Satan, the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), had deceived the whole world (Rev 12:9). For those who had overcome the odds to believe the real truth, the promise from God is incredible - But as it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him' - 1 Cor 2:9.
The Millennial Age of a thousand years will be a time for 'restitution of all things' (Acts 3:21) that had been lost due to the rule of Satan and his demons. God's Plan probably extend beyond planet earth to include the whole universe and hence 'Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end' - Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:33.
All who are called to be His disciples are commanded to hear Him - the Gospel message of Christ which is the kingdom of God (Matt 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35). One has to believe this same Gospel to be saved!
Christ's first commandment, after overcoming the temptations of Satan in the wilderness is 'repent ye, and believe the gospel' - Mark1:15. The Apostle Paul affirmed that the Gospel of Christ is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jews first and also to the Greek (meaning all the 'Gentiles') - Romans 1:16.
Some Bible scholars and writers believe that the Gospel of the kingdom of God is meant only for the Jews - this is absolutely false. Those who do not believe the Gospel are not called to be Christ's true disciples and will not be in the first resurrection when He returns (1 Cor 15:23; Hebrews 11:35)!
But what exactly is the 'kingdom of God'? Countless millions are confused. It is not the church, neither is it about the Person of Jesus Christ nor the millennium age. Some believe that it is 'in the heart and in the mind' when one says the 'sinner's prayer' and place his/her trust in Jesus Christ. The kingdom of God is the government of God which Christ was commissioned by God the Father to restore that which was lost to Satan (2 Cor 4:4) because of sin - first of Lucifer and his fallen angels, and then of Adam and his descendants.
The second Adam - Jesus Christ - had to overcome Satan at the wilderness to regain the right to the throne as 'King' of God's coming government on earth! But the Jews mistakenly thought that His first advent then was to restore the kingdom to Israel. They all looked and hoped in vain!
The dreams of prophet Daniel about the coming kingdom of God (Daniel 2:44) and prophet Isaiah's prophecy that 'the government shall be upon his (Jesus Christ) shoulder...the increase of his government...and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and justice from henceforth even for ever. - Isaiah 9:6-7 - bear testament to this fact. The prophet Jeremiah had also recorded a similar prophecy - Jeremaih 23:5-6. This is corroborated by what the Archangel Gabriel told the Virgin Mary, He (Jesus Christ) shall be great...and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David... and of his kingdom there shall be no end - Luke 1:32-33.
The confusion arises partly from the mistranslation of Luke 17:21- the kingdom of God is within you. A more appropriate translation should be 'in the midst of you' - as given on the margin in the NKJV. In that context, Jesus Christ was speaking to the Pharisees telling them that the kingdom of God cannot be seen with human eyes, so it is pointless looking around to find the kingdom of God.
It is a spiritual kingdom that can only be seen and enter (inherit) when one is 'born again' as an immortal spirit being upon resurrection when He returns (John 3:3, 5-6; 1 Cor 15:50). Christ was making the point that He is the Divine Representative of the coming kingdom of God. No way was Jesus Christ telling the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was within them when He strongly condemned their hypocrisy with strong words (Matt 23:16-33)!
Jesus Christ preached the Gospel wherever He went, often accompanied with healing and casting of demons - Matt 10:7; Mk 1:38. In addition, he sent out His twelve and later seventy disciples to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick (Luke 9:1-2; 10:1,9). The Apostle Paul preached the Gospel of the kingdom of God - Acts 19:8, 20:25, 28:31; and so did Peter (Acts 3:19-24) and Philip (Acts 8:12). In fact, Paul and Philip differentiated the Gospel of the kingdom of God from the Person of Jesus Christ (Acts 8:12, 28:31).
Does that mean the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for the salvation of mankind is redunctant? By no means - Jesus Christ's role is very important as He is the way to the kingdom and He is to be preached in conjuction with the Gospel as shown in Acts 8:12 and 28:31.
Christ commanded His true disciples to 'seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness' - Matt 6:33 - and the first item on the Lord's prayer is to pray for 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' - Matt 6:10; Luke 11:2. In this time and age, God's government is ruling from His throne in heaven. God's Plan is to restore it on earth starting with the Millennial Age when Christ returns to restore His kingdom (Rev 11:15) when all human government will be forcefully evicted to make way for Christ and His resurrected saints - Rev 2:26, 3:21, 5:10; Daniel 7:13-14, 18,22,27.
Almost all the parables of Jesus Christ is about the kingdom of God. He even warned His disciples not to be deceived by preachers who will come to preach about the Person of Jesus Christ and ignoring His message - saying 'I am Christ' - Matt 24:5. Such blantant disobedient to the commandment of Christ is so serious that Paul warned of a 'double curse' on anyone who preached a different Gospel - Gal 1:8-9!
There are four element for a kingdom - land (which is planet earth - Matt 5:5), King (the Lord Jesus Christ - Zech 14:9), laws (the righteousness law and commandments of God - Isaiah 11:9, Habakkuk 2:14, including those taught by Jesus Christ at the sermon on the mount - Matt chapters 5-7) and people (all human beings who survived the Great Tribulation - Zech 14:16).
It is God's divine Plan for those whom He called to enter and inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Thess 2:12; Hebrews 2:9-13. However, they need to bear fruits of the Spirit, the righteous character of Christ-likeness in this mortal life before they qualify - Gal 5:22-26. Only a small group are now called (John 6:44) and lesser still will qualify (firstfruits) - Matt 20:16, 22:14; Luke 12:32; James 1:18 - with the rest of mankind who had ever lived called towards the end of the millennial age - Isaiah 65:20. When there are firstfruits, there will be subsequent ones to follow. Those who refused to conform will not inherit the kingdom of God - 1 Cor 6:9-10; Gal 5:19-21; Eph 5:5.
In fact, the Gospel was preached to the people of the Old Testament (Heb 4:2) and by almost all the Old Testament prophets (Acts 3:24). The same Gospel was also preached to Abraham (Gal 3:8) - probably by Melchizedek. Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah, is the seventh preacher of righteousness (the coming kingdom) for the period between Adam and the Flood (Jude 14). Noah was the eighth preacher of the one and only Gospel - 2 Pet 2:5. So the Gospel of the kingdom was consistently preached by all true servants of the Almighty God - both in the era of the Old Testament and in the New!
The Gospel is a mystery as it involved the salvation of all mankind (starting with the church as the firstfruits), God's divine family (for those born again) and much more - according to the Plan of God as spelt out in His Holy Days (see Leviticus chapter 23). Jesus Christ told His true disciples that He spoke in parables so that only those who are called will understand its mysteries, all the rest will not! - Matt 13:11; Luke 8:10. It is a mystery of the Gospel which things the angels desire to look into - 1 Peter 1:12. If the Gospel is only about the Person of Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, all these would be plain milk doctrine and the preceding verses would make no sense as there is 'no mystery'!
The true Gospel had not been preached for some nineteen centuries since the first century AD when there was a conspiracy to suppress it because the powers that be then were fearful of a higher power and authority that the people will hold allegiance to. They substituted the Gospel with the Person of Jesus Christ instead! In fact, Jesus Christ was crucified because the spiritual leaders then were afraid that their power and authority will be lost because of the Gospel that the Lord preached. Worse, they could be accused of treason and even lost their lives as they were subservient to the Roman authorities.
The Lord Jesus Christ prophesied that this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come - Matt 24:14. Since we are all living in the last days, it is high time that the true Gospel be preached to fulfill of the Great Commission. Had it been preached in the preceding centuries, Christ would have returned to restore His kingdom.
The issue simply is this - do we really love God and His truth enough (2 Thess 2:10) to lay hold of His promises. Sadly, as it was in the days of the prophet Isaiah and the Apostle Paul, so it is today when one can resonate their cry to God - 'Who hath believed our report?' - Isaiah 53:1; Romans 10:16. Satan, the prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2), had deceived the whole world (Rev 12:9). For those who had overcome the odds to believe the real truth, the promise from God is incredible - But as it is written, 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him' - 1 Cor 2:9.
The Millennial Age of a thousand years will be a time for 'restitution of all things' (Acts 3:21) that had been lost due to the rule of Satan and his demons. God's Plan probably extend beyond planet earth to include the whole universe and hence 'Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end' - Isaiah 9:7; Luke 1:33.
